Wednesday, February 27, 2008

A question from me to you.

Why do car dealerships always have colorful flags and balloons lining their lots? Does the fact that the parking lot looks like a circus draw people in? Is it written in the Car Dealership Code of Laws that flapping flags and flying balloons must be strung between the light standards in order to be able to legitimately call themselves a true and genuine car dealership? Then they have one jumbo balloon floating like 100 feet up in the air over the dealership. Do people see that lone balloon ridiculously high in the air and think, "Look! There's a car dealership. I've been looking for a car dealership. It's a good thing they have that balloon way up in the air or I never would have found them."? And then there's the 25 foot tall blow up gorilla gracing the roof of the car dealership. What purpose does he serve? Does he really pull in the customers? Do the people who were able to resist the flags, balloons, and the high flying jumbo balloon cave when they see the gorilla? "Man, they have a gorilla. Now I have to go look at their cars. I have to. I mean I can't not look at them now. Durn Gorilla!" Does anyone know the answer to this question?

watch out heyjoe, you forgot to say "dont delete this". And come on, let's talk about why they have stupid commercials that they are YELLING at us to come look at their cars. Them and the furniture stores. By the way, did I ever tell you that my family was in the car business? Yep, plenty of flags flying over the lot. Sorry, no huge balloons or gorillas! Or commercials...

Funny, we had a dealership with one of those 'balloons' that got too close to a power line and knocked out power to the area; the fire dept had to cut the balloon loose and it floated away, much to the disgust of the car lot owner.

heyjoe - i knew you would go for the inflatable objects. i just knew it!

scmom - ok...so your family was in the business. you are our expert. why are there flags? do you know? and do you think business would be better if balloons and giant gorillas were added. something to think about!

gina - i wonder how much a giant jumbo balloon costs. hmmmm...how much money did that car lot owner lose when his giant balloon floated away? you are just adding to my questions!

I do not know the answer to your question but apparently you are not the only person wondering about this. Here is a link to a funny post about balloon gorillas I read on another blog. http://allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/2007/08/balloon-gorillas-and-cancer.html

Being the expert and all, let me answer your question. The reason for all of it is to draw attention to your lot. If you notice, there is usually not one lot just out there by itself. When you see one, you usually see a whole street lined with car lots. The point of all the gimmicks is to make your lot stand out. Does it work? I have no idea but my guess is yes. I remember one of the new lots in memphis had their building painted Tennessee orange (yuck!) and their slogan was "the ugliest building on covington pike". Trust me, everyone knew which lot was theirs. I don't recall gorillas being part of the marketing scheme back in the day but I guess it works too. "Hey honey meet me at that carlot that has the huge gorilla on the roof, you can't miss it". But, I still don't understand why they all YELL in their commercials.

scmom - true, so very true. there are usually lots of dealerships in a row. i hadn't thought about needing to stand out. it seems like a giant, bikini wearing gorilla might do the trick. or an ugly orange building.

readers - i decided to google balloon gorillas to see what i could fine and you would be surprised at how many different types of gorillas you can purchase. one site even had this to say

"These giant gorilla balloons demand that all eyes look to see what the banner says each week. Commuters tend to grow fond of them and will definitely notice if he is gone.

Auto dealerships are masters of marketing and they buy these all year round."

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About Me

I'm Natalie. I was born in New Orleans and raised in Louisiana and Texas. I have a husband, Brian and four fabulous kids. We spent a few years working in Turkey (yes, the country), but we are currently back in Texas for a while.